Campaign News

Why is the office of Attorney General a partisan position? Decisions should be made based on the law and the facts. We want confidence in decisions and not whether they will help or hurt a particular political party or political figure.

There will be an independent candidate for Michigan attorney general on the November ballot.

A federal judge recently ordered Michigan elections officials to put Christopher Graveline’s name on the statewide ballot after calling the state’s requirement that he collect 30,000 “completely arbitrary.” That riled some elections officials, and called into question how many signatures future independent candidates will need to collect.

A former federal prosecutor could become the first Independent candidate for Michigan Attorney General to appear on the ballot in decades after a judge issued a decision that overrules a 30-year-old state law requiring independent candidates running for state office to obtain 30,000 signatures from people across the state.

Lansing — Another candidate is on track to enter the Michigan attorney general race following a federal judge’s order Monday, and his presence on the ballot could tip the scales in what’s expected to be a tight race between Republican Tom Leonard and Democrat Dana Nessel.

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan’s laws requiring independent candidates for attorney general to collect 30,000 valid voter signatures within six months are unconstitutionally burdensome, a federal judge ruled Monday, ordering that candidate Christopher Graveline’s name appear on the November ballot as long as his campaign gathered at least 5,000 signatures.

Christopher Graveline, who resigned as an assistant U.S. attorney in Detroit in early June so he could run for office, said Michigan’s signature requirements for statewide independent candidates are unconstitutionally onerous, violating candidates’ and voters’ rights to free speech, freedom of assembly and due process.

“There are certain things in place in law in Michigan that allow the parties to talk to their base and to nobody else,” Graveline said.